Electric arc welding



May 9, 1961 R. A. cREsswELL ELECTRIC ARC WELDING Filed Aug. 22, 195s INVENTOR ROBERT A. CRESSWELL ATTORNEY United States Patent Olice 2,983,808 Patented May 9, 1961 ELECTRIC ARC WELDING Robert Arthur Cresswell, Tadworth, England, assignor to The British Oxygen Company Limited, a British company Filed Aug. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 756,723 Claims priority, application Great Britain Aug. 22, 1957 2 Claims. (Cl. 219-130) This invention relates to electric arc welding and in particular to automatic and semi-automatic electric arc welding at high current intensities.

In the welding of steels particularly of heavy section, it is advantageous both technically and economically to achieve high metal deposition rates together with good metallurgical properties.

According to the present invention, in a method of electric arc welding in which an electric arc is established between a workpiece and the -tip of a continuous ilux coated electrode of the kind having an electrically conductive wire wound around and in electrical contact with a core of the electrode and extending to the surface of the electrode, use is made of the resistance heating effect of the welding current owing in the electrode to raise the tip of the electrode almost to its melting point. To make use of the resistance heating elect, the extension of the electrode beyond the contact means arranged to conduct welding current to the electrode is made two inches or more, and a welding current density in the electrode of at least 50,000 amperes per square inch is used. Preferably this current density does not exceed 150,000 amperes per square inch.

In conventional electric arc Welding with a consumable electrode the distance between the point at which welding current is conducted to the electrode and the tip of the electrode is of the order of one inch to one and a half inches.

A shield of gas or granulated ux may be supplied to protect the electric arc and the welding zone if desired. Guide means may be provided to guide the electrode as it is fed from the contact means.

One construction of welding head for practising the method of the present invention, is illustrated in the accompanying drawing which shows a diagrammatic sectional view of a part of the apparatus including a gas directing nozzle and a tubular metal contact member.

Referring to the drawing, the apparatus includes a tubular metal contact member 1 on the outlet end of which is coaxially mounted a tubular guide 2 of refractory material. The guide 2 must be able to withstand relatively high temperatures and may be formed of refractory materials such as bonded zirconia, sillimanite, mullite, siliconnitride or heat resisting alloys.

The length of the guide will depend on the extension required but will generally not be less than two inches. The contact member 1 and guide 2 are disposed within a tube for feeding shielding gas such as carbon dioxide to the welding zone if desired, and the contact member 1 and a nozzle 4 of the tube 3 are each provided with an encircling passage 5 and 6 respectively to allow for water cooling.

A flux coated electrode 7 is fed through the contact member 1 and tubular guide 2 during the welding operation by conventional feed rolls, not shown, which are driven by an electric motor at substantially constant speed. Welding current is fed to the electrode n known manner as it passes through the contact member 1, an

electric arc being established between the tip of the electrode 7 and a workpiece 8.

Alternatively a hopper may be arranged to deposit a layer of ilux on the workpiece ahead of the arc in known manner. In this case a gas directing nozzle need not be used.

A construction of continuous iux coated electrode which is especially suitable for the method of the present invention is disclosed in patent specification No. 584,299. Such an electrode consists of a core wire surrounded by and in electrical contact with a wire mesh consisting of an inner layer formed by four parallel wires wound helically about the core wire in a clockwise sense and an outer layer 4formed by four other parallel wires wound helically about the inner layer in an anti-clock wise sense. The outer layer of wires is in electrical contact with the core wire through the inner layer of wires and extends to the surface of the electrode. The interstices between the wires of the two layers of mesh are filled with a flux coating material. The coating material includes deoxidising and slag forming materials and may contain metal powders such as iron powder.

One electrode which may be used in conjunction with a stream of carbon dioxide flowing around the electrode to deposit a coating of hard lfacing alloy on a steel workpiece comprises a central core wire of mild steel surrounded by two layers of helically wound wires of smaller diameter than the core wire but also of mild steel. The coating material in the interstices between the helically wound wires comprises a homogeneous mixture of the following principal ingredients:

Par-ts by weight Rutile 45 Fluorspar 5 Felspar 15 High carbon ferro manganese 16 Other alloying ingredients such for example as ferromolybdenum and `ferro-chromium, up to 18.5 The invention has particular application to the cladding of metal workpieces since it enables the deposition of larger amounts of weld metal for a given heating of the workpiece than is obtained with conventional techniques thereby reducing the dilution of the deposited weld metal by the metal of the workpiece. In cladding mild steel with stainless steel it has been found that by using a longer electrode extension than is conventional the deposition rates can be increased by approximately without increasing dilution. Using a welding current of 400 amperes on a 6 S.W.G. flux coated electrode of the type referred to above a deposition rate of 0.32 lb. per minute of stainless steel was obtained using an electrode extension of 18 inches between the current contact means and the electrode tip.

A coating for an electrode of the type referred to above to produce an electrode capable of depositing a stainless steel of the 18% chromium 8% nickel type under a shield of carbon dioxide comprises a homogeneous mixture of the following principal ingredients:

Parts by weight By the use of the invention, a molten stream of metal may be delivered at high speed to the workpiece, and to prevent blockages through chilling of molten metal in the guide means it may be desirable to commence and aesaeoe finish welding at a 'value of welding current which is Alower than' that obtained during vnormal welding `according to the invention. At the commencement of welding this lower valuerof welding current may be used until 'the guide means has 'warmed' upandf-may, then e be 'increased continuously or in steps'oi'thehighervalue. At 'the' end of the-welding process the'lwelding current may be reduced continuously' orinste'ps'so that Vsolicl electrode' is passing 'through the Vguidefrneans when the ow of welding current is interrupted. The welding current "will"g`enerally be such as to produceacurrent"density inlthe Velectrode of at least SfEODOLamperesper `square inch. Where necessary, auxiliaryheatingmeans such as" an electrical 'resistance heating'coilmaybearranged 'toi 'heat'. -the tultular guide`Y 2,' especiallybefore' welding is commenced.

"Although sucientmolten m'etalmayfI` be vsupplied to llthe weld preparation there "may'be insufl'cient 'heat 'available using a single electrode to 'allow' fi11l"fusion into the workpiece. In 'such cases a 'noniconsnmableielectrode preheating'arc' may be used ahead of thecontinuous'flux coated electrode/to maintain a"'high weldingspeed. AAl- Vtern'ativelymore thanone flux 'coatedelectrode may `be 'used,the leading elect-rode'having'fweldingcurrent conducted 'to it at the conventional distance 'from the electrode tip andthe following electrode or electrodes having lthis ldistance, 'i.e. Vthe extension, 'increased to' make use 'of the`"resistance" heatingefiect and deposit weld metal 'atan increased rate.

Where two or more electrodes 'are -used they'may be spaced at such a distanceV and may 'be so directed that the "mechanical force on' the electrodetips' due to the magnetic fields set up by the welding `currentowing through the 'electrodes andthe welding arcs assists in guiding the molten or nearly rnolten'weldmetalV towards the work- 'piece. v'Thus,for example, two electrodes having D.C. 'welding' current flowing'A through them Vmay be" arranged parallelto"oneanothenso'thatthe mechanical force' due `to Vthe weldingcur-rent'dre'cts'the molten'or nearly molten weldY metal into a'relatively narrow weldpool.

I'claim:

1.`In a'method of Welding a metal workpiece in 'which az continuous flux-coated welding electrode .ofthe kind whaving-anelectrically conductive twire aroundand in electrical contact with a metal core of the electrode and ex- "tending'to the'surface of the electrode is fed past current contact means spaced at least two inches from an electric arc and through heat-resistant insulating guide means to the arc, and in which the Welding current density and distance between current VContact means and the arc are so correlated that the region oi theV electrode adjacent its tip is raised almost lto its'melting'point by resist ance heating, the improved method of preventing stick- .ing'of the electrode in the guide means which comprises heating the guide means before the electric arc is established andthe electrode feed is started.

2. Apparatus for use in electric are Welding of a metal workpiece utilising'resistance;v heating vof a continuouslyfed electrode which, ,includes contact means through which welding current may beconduc'ted to the continuous electrode, heat resistant insulating guide means eX- .tending at least two inches alongrthey electrode from the lcontact means and insulated from the-contaet-means, an

electrical resistant heating coilwound aroundthe guide means and arranged to heat-the guide meansfand means for directing. a shield oi gas around'the guide means, the tip of the electrode, Vthe electric arc, and over thedeposited weld metal.

References Cited in theiileofethis' patent UNITED` STATES PATENTS 1,495,272 Stresau May 27, 1924 2,305,206 Strobel Dec. 15, 1942 2,430,701 Bernard NOV. 11, 1947 2,432,048 Stretton Dec. 2, 1947 2,475,835 i Hehenkamp July 12, 1949 2,655,586 l"Schreiner Oct. 13, 1953 2,658,162 Tichenor'et al. Nov. 3,V 1953 2,669,640 Outcalt'et. a1 Feb. 16, 1954 2,721,249 Landis et al. Oct. 18, 1955 2,736,787 Welch Feb. 28, 1956 *2,756,311 *Persson etV al. July/24, 1956 2,876,330 Reinhardt Mar. 3, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 762,170 .Great'Britain Nov. 21, 1956 787,910 VGreatBritairl Dec. 18, 1957 

